Rescue on Halloween
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Voldemort announces his plan concerning the Potters to the Death Eaters of his inner circle on the day before Halloween. What if Severus Snape decides to interfere? Completely AU, partly OOC, sick!Lily, maybe sick!Harry
1. Chapter 1

**Rescue on Halloween**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._

_A huge thanks to JB5391 for her absolute brilliant beta-ing!_

**

* * *

Chapter 1**

Severus listened in shock as the Dark Lord informed members of his loyal inner circle, "It can either be the Longbottoms or the Potters. On Halloween, we're going to attack both families."

'_Lily_,' Severus thought, horrified. '_I must warn her_.' He frowned under his Death Eater mask. '_No, if I tell her in advance, I'll have to save Potter, too_,' he mused, warily noticing that the Dark Lord dismissed them.

Back home, he pulled off his Death Eater robes and donned his favourite pair of trousers and a black polo neck shirt, before he strode into his private lab, where he busied himself brewing the next potion on the list of orders from the apothecary in Diagon Alley in order to thoroughly ponder the matter. It was not as if he was brewing in a slapdash fashion. No, Severus was a very responsible Potions Master, and he was able to fully concentrate on his work, while he thought about other things; it was merely the case that he was able to theoretically solve most of his problems, while he was hunched over a cauldron.

'_He is going to kill Lily, and it's my fault_,' he thought, terrified. '_If I hadn't told the Dark Lord about Trelawney's babbling about a prophecy, he wouldn't go after her and her baby. I must save her_,' he resolved in determination. '_No_,' he corrected himself, '_her and the child. She might forgive me for not rescuing Potter, but she'd kill me if I didn't save the boy_.'

He brewed until late in the night, which was not out of the ordinary for Britain's youngest Potions Master. At three o'clock in the morning, he left his lab and strode into the huge library that occupied one third of the first floor of Prince Manor, his old ancestors' home. After searching for the appropriate charm for three hours, he spent another hour practising and was just on his way to his bedroom, when Sophia, his personal house-elf, popped up in front of him.

"Master Severus, your bed hasn't been slept in and you have yet to have breakfast," the elf, who had been in charge of him since he had been a baby, lightly reproved him.

"I'm sorry, Sophia," Severus said, sighing, feeling every bit a chastised schoolboy, before he asked, "Today is Halloween, is it not?"

"Yes, Master Severus," the elf replied warily, looking at him curiously and waiting for an explanation for his sudden question.

"Please prepare the bedroom next to the Master bedroom and make a connecting door to the adjacent room, which we will need to change to a nursery," Severus instructed her, before he explained what he had heard at the previous evening's Death Eater meeting. '_Thank Salazar I can depend on her_,' he thought, when Sophia exclaimed her understanding and promised to not reveal his identity or their location to the guests. "If the Dark Lord fails for some reason, I shall take them back to their home tomorrow morning," he added.

"Severus, go and get some sleep," Sophia instructed him firmly, casting him a proud look.

"Come and wake me in two hours," Severus requested and retreated to his bedroom. However, sleep did not come easily as an extremely unwelcome thought began to bother him.

'_James Potter saved your life a few years ago_,' a small voice at the back of his head spoke up.

'_His best friend tried to kill me_.' Another voice was heard; a bit louder than its counterpart.

'_It was not his fault_.'

'_But I do not wish to save him_.'

'_You owe him_.'

'_It must suffice that I rescue his offspring_.'

'_You could easily save him as well_.'

'_I am a Death Eater. I don't have to save peoples' lives_.' With that soothing thought in mind, sleep finally claimed him. The sun stood already high in the sky on this bright and cold Halloween day, when Sophia woke him up and made him eat a small meal, before she instructed him to take care of himself.

"I will," Severus promised as he finished his second cup of coffee. No one could make better coffee than Sophia. He rose from his chair and pulled a small phial out of his robe pocket. Downing the dark green liquid, he growled upon noticing that Sophia observed his disgusted expression with amusement.

"Master Severus has never been able to hide his disgust for potions," she commented, chuckling, before she conjured a small hand mirror and held it out to Severus. "No one will be able to recognise you, Master Severus."

Severus looked at his potion induced new features with an expression of curiosity and loathing. His black hair was now brown, short and curly, matching his green eyes. He waved his wand at himself, transfiguring his black outfit into blue jeans with a white T-shirt and dark green robes. "Very well then, I'll be on my way," he told Sophia, before he apparated straight into the Potters' garden, grateful that Lily had always kept in contact with him, so that he knew where to find her, even now that the house was under the Fidelius charm.

To his relief, Lily opened the door after a few seconds after he knocked, carrying the baby on her hip. '_This is the chance to get both of them_,' Severus thought. He quickly laid his hand on Lily's shoulder, reaching for the boy with his right hand, and before Lily even realised what was happening, he apparated the three of them back to Prince Manor.

"Excuse me, sir; who are you, and how dare you abduct my son and me? Where are we?" Lily protested in a very upset voice, cradling her baby close and stepping away from Severus.

"Do not be afraid; I am a friend, and I took you here to keep you safe. If everything goes well, I'll take you back tomorrow morning," Severus replied, noticing in relief that the potion he had taken earlier had affected his voice as well. '_Otherwise Lily would already have recognised me_,' he mused. '_She always told me that she loved my voice_.'

Sophia's arrival brought him back to reality. "This is Sophia," he introduced her. "She will see to your needs."

"Let me take you to your rooms, Mistress Lily, Master Harry," Sophia offered kindly.

Severus remained on his spot when Lily followed Sophia, waving his wand at Lily and the boy in the complicated movement that he had practised during the night, sighing inwardly as he wished, "I hope I'll never have to take them back." He was pulled out of his stupor when Sophia returned. "I'll be back shortly, Sophia" he said and apparated back to the Potters' home. He stepped in front of the still open entrance door and waved his wand in order to conjure the two copies, which he had made a few minutes earlier, and place them into the doorframe. '_That worked well_,' he thought, noticing that he couldn't tell the difference between them and the originals. Before the copy Lily could ask what he wanted, he returned to Prince Manor, making a mental note to not take the real Lily back earlier than noon the following day, because the charm was supposed to last twenty-four hours, before the copies would vanish into thin air.

He instructed Sophia to keep an eye on their guests and inform him if they had any problems, before he retreated to his lab, pondering the recent events. '_I should brew a few potions for babies_,' he thought, '_just to be sure_.' He busied himself in his lab, until Sophia appeared and instructed him to eat dinner.

HP

Lily observed Harry drift off to sleep in concern. In spite of the beautiful nursery that was in the adjacent room, she had decided to keep her baby with her, just to make sure that nothing happened to him. '_Where are we?_' she wondered. '_And who is that man? At least his house-elf is a very kind old elf_.' Somehow the man had felt familiar; however, she couldn't place it. '_I just hope that we're not waiting here in order to be taken to Voldemort_,' she thought, when she suddenly noticed that her wand was still in her robe pocket. '_Now that's strange. __Why didn't he take my wand from me? Not that I'm complaining, mind._' She slowly pulled her wand out and waved it at Harry, casting a surveying charm that would alert her if he had any problems, just like she did every night at home. '_Maybe I can just apparate away_,' she mused, cradling the small boy close, before she tried to apparate home, turning on the spot in vain. '_Well, this seems to be a huge Manor. It certainly has anti-apparition wards_,' she thought, feeling strangely relieved that she still could do magic. She cast a locking spell at the door as well as an alarm that would alert her if anyone tried to get into the room during the night, before she got ready for bed.

Cradling Harry close, Lily soon drifted off to sleep, dreaming about her time at Hogwarts and, strangely enough, of Severus Snape. It had been a long while since she had dreamt of Severus. He had been the first and only real love of her life, and she had been devastated when their relationship ended, before it could even really begin when he called her "Mudblood" in their fifth year. So far, Lily had thought that they were equal. Yes, she was muggleborn, but he was only a half-blood anyway. She knew that there were students at Hogwarts, especially in Slytherin, who cared about the blood status, but she had never believed that Severus belonged to them.

HP

It was very late in the cloudless Halloween night when Severus felt the Dark Lord's summoning. He quickly threw his Death Eater garment over and apparated away. Together with the few others of the Dark Lord's inner circle, he observed how the Potter house was turned into a burning ruin. However, while everyone else cheered, he looked at the scene in shock, trying in vain to banish the annoying small voice from his mind that blamed him for James Potter's demise.

Unaware that the other Death Eaters were long gone, Severus remained on the spot for a long time, wondering why he had not seen the Dark Lord leave the house. It was in the early morning hours when he saw Hagrid, the Groundskeeper and his old school nemesis, Black viewing the devastating scene and overheard them speaking. '_Potter and the copy of Lily are gone, but the boy's copy survived and Dumbledore wants to send the baby to Petunia?_' he thought in disbelief. '_She absolutely detests magic. Well, the boy's copy will vanish in a few hours anyway, and the real one is safe with Lily. What is Lily going to do though, considering that everyone now thinks she is dead?_' He tiredly massaged his temples, deciding to dismiss the question for the time being and discuss the matter with Lily later on. '_I wonder if I should reveal my identity to her or not_,' he thought as he apparated home and went straight to bed.

HP

Severus felt as if he had barely fallen asleep when Sophia popped up beside his bed. "Good morning, Master Severus," she said gently. "Mistress Lily would like to know how long you are going to keep her here."

Severus let out a long sigh and told his elf about the nightly events. "I shall see if the Daily Prophet has already caught up on the matter and speak with her then," he decided.

The Daily Prophet screamed in its main headline, '_The Boy Who Lived vanquishes You-Know-Who'_.

'_The Dark Lord is gone?_' Severus thought in disbelief as he continued to read the article that explained that Lily and James Potter were the latest victims of the evil wizard and that the one-year-old boy would be taken to his Muggle relatives. '_I need to show this to Lily. She'll understand why I brought here_,' he resolved. Completely ignoring Sophia's glare at the sight of his untouched breakfast, he rose from his chair and strode through the room, reaching the door before he decided otherwise and returned to the table. "Sophia, please take Mrs. Potter to the parlour," he instructed the elf and hastily took a few sips of his coffee, deciding to leave his potion induced glamour as it was for the time being.

HP

Lily had just changed Harry's nappy after breakfast and wondered if the man would take them back home like he had promised the previous day, when Sophia popped up beside her. "Mistress Lily, I must take you to the parlour," she said in her usual kind voice. "Please follow me."

Scooping Harry in her arms, Lily hurriedly followed the elf downstairs, anxiously glancing around. When they arrived in what seemed to be the parlour, she placed Harry onto the floor and waved her wand to conjure a light blue teddy bear for him, sighing in relief when Harry let out a happy squeal and proceeded to busy himself with the teddy that randomly changed its colour whenever Harry touched its nose. '_Thank Merlin you're with me, Harry_,' she thought, feeling extremely comforted at her baby's presence, when the door was opened and the man, who had abducted them, entered the room.

'_He is wearing the same clothes as he was yesterday_,' Lily noticed, wrinkling her nose in disgust that changed to surprise as she felt the smell of herbs penetrate her nose, and like the previous day, she felt strangely safe and comfortable in the man's presence.

"Good morning, Mrs. Potter," Severus spoke up in a neutral voice and placed the latest edition of the Daily Prophet on the table.

_tbc..._


	2. Chapter 2

**Rescue on Halloween**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._

_A huge thanks to JB5391 for her absolute brilliant beta-ing!_

**

* * *

Chapter 2**

Lily's view fell on the picture of what once had been her own home but had been turned to a burning ruin overnight. She unconsciously let out a loud gasp, before she proceeded to read the article. "I am dead," she said in disbelief, casting Severus a questioning look.

"As I informed you yesterday, I brought you here in order to keep you safe," Severus explained. "The Dark Lord was after you and your son because of a prophecy, and when I heard that he planned to attack you last night, I decided to interfere."

"Thank you for saving my life," Lily said, dazzled. "Why didn't you save James as well though if you went as far as abducting Harry and me?" she asked, unable to believe that her husband was really dead, tearing up at the thought.

"He has never been a friend of mine," Severus replied shortly. He let out a long sigh and said, "We need to think about what to do. Officially, Lily Potter is dead, and your house is destroyed. Since this Manor is huge enough, you are very welcome to reside here for the time being, and since hardly anyone comes here, you even have time to ponder the matter about your name." He raised an eyebrow at her in a very Snape-ish manner.

"Severus," Lily blurted out, giving the man in front of her a sharp look. '_Of course, it's the smell of herbs and potions that made him feel familiar the whole time._' On the one hand, she felt very happy and comforted in the presence of her best childhood friend; however, on the other hand, she was very upset that he had not saved James as well.

HP

'_She is angry_,' Severus thought. '_Well, of course; why would I have expected anything else? She chose to marry him of all people_.'

Lily's voice pulled him out of his musings about their time at Hogwarts, when she asked, "Will it be possible for me to either travel to Hogwarts or invite Professor McGonagall here? I'd love to ask her for an advice."

"Of course. You may do as you wish, provided that you keep out of my office, my lab and my bedroom," Severus replied in an even voice. He unobtrusively pulled a small phial out of his robe pocket and took a few sips, changing his features back to normal.

"Severus," Lily spoke up again, sounding very pensive. "I am very grateful that you saved Harry and me and allow us to live here for the time being; however, I'm not sure yet if I'll be able to forgive you for allowing James to be killed."

Severus slightly inclined his head and quietly waved his wand over the fireplace to activate the Floo network. "Inform Sophia when your visitor is gone, so that I can block the fireplace again. Otherwise, this place might not be safe for you." He pointed to a small, silver container in the shape of a snake on the mantelpiece. "Floo powder."

"Severus, thank you for everything," Lily said in a soft voice.

Severus gave her a short nod and left the room, resolving to head to his lab, where he spent the next three hours, deep in thoughts, before Sophia informed him that Lily wished to speak with him. He placed the potion, which he was just brewing, under a stasis charm and swiftly returned to the parlour, noticing that Lily was even paler than she had been in the morning.

"Severus," she said in a small voice. "Apparently, Voldemort also intended to go after Alice and Frank, and since your copy of Harry got rid of him before he could pull through with his plan, Bellatrix Lestrange went after them to avenge Voldemort early this morning. She attacked them with the Cruciatus curse, and both of them have been taken to St. Mungo's." Lily let out a small sob as she continued, "She was my best friend, and little Neville is a day older than Harry." She looked at the small boy, who was quietly sitting on the floor playing contentedly with the teddy.

"I am sorry, Lily. I could not save everyone," Severus said quietly. "Did Professor McGonagall give you any advice?"

Lily sighed. "She suggested that I remain here with Harry for the time being, because it would be too dangerous if anyone knew where we were and that I am still alive. She wanted to speak with you as well, but she was very busy today due to the events of last night. She promised to discuss it with Professor Dumbledore as well and told me to contact her again tomorrow."

HP

For the rest of the day, Severus neither saw Lily nor Harry again. When Sophia informed Lily that it was time for lunch and dinner, Lily decided to eat in her room, and Severus sensed that she was still not ready to forgive him. '_She probably never will_,' the annoying little voice informed him.

HP

Lily sighed as she sat on the edge of her bed watching Harry sleep. '_At least Harry seems to be happy_,' she thought, feeling extremely sad at the news not only of the loss of her husband but also of her best friend.

'_You must be grateful that Severus saved your life, so that you can be there for little Harry_,' a voice spoke up from the back of her mind, causing Lily to let out a long sigh. '_That's right_,' she thought; '_But still; he could have saved everyone_,' she mused, noticing that her head was beginning to hurt badly. '_I better get some sleep, and in the morning I will think about how to behave towards Severus_,' she resolved.

However, when Lily woke up in the morning, she could barely open her eyes, not only her head but also her throat was sore, and her ears felt strangely clogged up. '_Oh no; I can't get sick now_,' she thought, terrified. She slowly sat up in spite of the dizziness that overcame her as soon as she brought herself into an upright position. '_He is such a cutie_,' she thought, seeing that Harry was quietly playing on the floor with the flying car that she had conjured for him in the evening. '_How nice of him to not wake me up, but he needs to eat something_,' Lily decided and called Sophia.

"Mistress Lily, of course I will make breakfast for Master Harry," Sophia replied gently, casting Lily a concerned look, taking in that her eyes were glazed over and her hair was strangely sticking to her face in beads of sweat. "Mistress Lily seems to be ill," she said in a soft voice. "Will you please allow me to take Master Harry with me to the dining room and send Master Severus to check on you? He will surely be able to help you. He is the best and youngest Potions Master this country ever had," she added, her voice laced with pride.

Feeling too miserable to care what happened, Lily merely uttered some agreement, before she closed her eyes, noticing gratefully that Sophia placed something ice-cold on her forehead.

HP

Severus was sitting at the table in the dining room, studying the Daily Prophet, while he absentmindedly sipped his second cup of coffee, when Sophia popped into the room with Harry in tow.

"Master Severus, Mistress Lily seems to be ill," the elder house-elf informed him. "I promised that you would go and check on her. I will keep an eye on little Master Harry."

"Very well," Severus said and obediently left the room, heading upstairs. After a short detour into the master bedroom to fetch his small, black bag, he knocked at Lily's door. When there came no reply, he hesitantly opened the door and stepped into the room. "Lily," he said quietly, "Sophia told me that you were feeling under the weather. May I have your consent to check on you?"

"Severus, you should have let me die together with the others," Lily croaked, wearily opening her eyes just a little bit.

"Shhh, it's all right, Lily," Severus said soothingly, hoping that it was only the apparently high fever that made her talk like that. He pulled a thermometer out of his bag and handed it to Lily, observing that she shivered violently as she took the cold device into her mouth. He quietly took her wrist into his hand, only letting go when the old thermometer began to beep. Severus frowned at the reading. '_Thirty-nine degrees is too high for a cold_,' he thought. He lit the tip of his wand and peered into her eyes, ears and throat, before he called Sophia and ordered her to bring a few potions from his lab. "I am not sure," he finally told Lily. "It is likely to be the wizard's flu, but it could also be some kind of respiratory tract infection. We will try the potion for the wizard's flu first and see if it works." He carefully steadied Lily's back to help her into an upright position and pressed the phial against her lips. "I'll come and check on you again in two hours," he promised, smirking as he observed her succumb to the potion and drift off to sleep.

Severus returned downstairs, looking for Sophia and Harry. He found them in the living room, where Sophia was watching Harry. The small boy was toddling around the room, trying to catch a Snitch that was hovering in front of him and was steadily moving away as he ran after it.

Harry looked up when he entered the room and let out a happy, "Dada."

"I am not your father," Severus replied in a small voice, and his expression turned into one of disgust at the sight of the boy, who resembled his childhood enemy so much. '_Oh well, he is Lily's son only now_,' he reminded himself, when Sophia spoke up.

"Severus, Lily told me that the boy was used to flying on a small toddler's broom. Why don't you take him flying for a while? It's beautiful outside."

Severus sighed at the thought of having to play baby-sitter the whole day; however, he grudgingly agreed and told the child, "Let's go flying then." He pointed his wand at a tissue that he pulled out of his robe pocket and transfigured it into a thick, colourful snowsuit, warm enough for the bright, cold November day.

In the meantime, Sophia conjured a small toddler's broom for Harry, placing all kind of safety charms on it, before she handed it to the boy. "Do you know how to fly, sweetie?" she asked kindly.

"Yeah," Harry squealed in delight and mounted the broom under Sophia's and Severus' sharp eyes.

Severus was amazed at the small boy's flying abilities. '_He is at least as good as his father was_,' he mused as he mounted his own broom and took into the air, careful to not fly much higher than Harry's broom allowed the small boy to fly. He looked down in surprise when Harry landed on the ground after only a few minutes of flying and quickly descended to see what was wrong.

"Fwy wif Dada," Harry said pleadingly, putting his own broom onto the ground, before he raised his arms towards Severus, demanding, "Up."

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Severus carefully lifted up the boy, so that he came to sit in front of himself on the broom. He slowly took into the air and couldn't help inwardly chuckling as the child began to cheer happily, especially as Sophia conjured a Snitch, which she made float near the broom, so that Harry could try to catch it. Harry enjoyed himself thoroughly, and Severus couldn't help noticing that the child's joy seemed to be contagious. Only when Sophia informed him that it was time to come inside in order to check on Lily and have lunch together with Harry, he slowly landed on the ground with a vehemently protesting Harry.

"You can come back later on," Sophia said soothingly and gently began to take the child's outer clothes off.

Severus strode to the second floor and silently entered Lily's bedroom, knowing that she still had to be knocked out by the potion, which he had administered earlier. He gently woke her up and checked on her, noticing in concern that her condition had not improved yet.

"Severus," Lily croaked, reaching for his cold hand. "James and Alice..." She trailed off as tears began to run down her cheeks.

Severus helplessly observed her sobs turn into harsh coughs. He summoned Sophia and asked for a calming draught, which he made Lily drink in addition to her next dose of the flu potion. "It's all right, Lily. Alice is not dead. Maybe she and her husband will recover," he said soothingly in spite of better knowing, sighing in relief when Lily drifted off to a calmer, potions induced sleep.

In spite of the potions he was administering, Severus noticed in concern that Lily's condition barely improved during the day. '_Maybe my diagnosis was wrong and it's not the flu_,' he thought when he pulled himself a chair next to her bed to watch over her sleep for a while, wondering if nightmares might be aggravating her condition. He pulled the newest copy of Potions Monthly out of his robe pocket and began to read; however, he had barely finished the first article, when Lily began to moan in her sleep. Letting the journal sink, Severus looked at the young woman in the bed, who suddenly began to speak in a hoarse voice.

"Please Severus, help him. I know that you don't like him, but he would help you, too. He was irresponsible and an arrogant bully when he was younger, but he has changed and he is Harry's daddy. Harry needs his daddy. Please Severus," Lily croaked, before she ended up having a coughing fit.

Severus' heart broke as he heard her. '_How could I be so selfish_,' he thought, terrified. '_The least thing I wanted was to make her so unhappy_.' He rose from his chair and left the room, before he called Sophia and asked her to keep an eye on Lily for a while.

"Severus," Sophia said, giving him a piercing look. "Lily is delirious. She will understand that you're not the saviour of the world and that you can't save everyone. She will surely be grateful that you saved her. You did what you could do."

"No," Severus objected vehemently. "I could have saved him. I was just too egoistic to put Lily's interests over my own sentiments." He started pacing the room in agitation.

"No Severus, you don't know if you had been able to get to him," Sophia said firmly. "It could have been that the Dark Lord caught you when you tried to warn Potter. Everything is possible. Moreover, the copy of Harry vanquished the Dark Lord. Perhaps you saved thousands of lives by not just warning the Potters but solving the matter in the way you did. If you hadn't rescued Lily, Harry would have ended up alone. Thanks to you, he still has his Mummy, and so far, he hasn't even noticed that you're not his father."

Severus quirked an eyebrow, and Sophia continued, "You'd make a wonderful father, by the way."

Casting a menacing glare into the kind elf's direction, Severus headed into his lab, knowing that the only way for him to calm down was to surround himself with a cauldron and potions ingredients. Unfortunately, for the first time in his life, his sad thoughts prevented him from fully concentrating on his potion, and when the first tears began to run down his cheeks, his half-finished potion decided to explode. The pink liquid's angry hissing brought Severus back to reality, and he quickly waved his wand to banish the potion, before he cleaned his face and thought in determination, "I already gave up Lily five years ago. I will not let her delirious babbling get to me." With that he waved his wand to clear his lab and noxed the lights, before deciding to get some sleep.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments!_


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